Ok, ok, on the one hand, Denmark has a point: they have a generous social welfare system in which, if you don’t have the means to provide for yourself, the state will provide for you – housing, food, healthcare, even university education. That costs a lot, and citizens must use up their own resources before they are eligible for the resources of the state. That’s reasonable and fair. So, it seems that it would be reasonable and fair for refugees/migrants who apply for permission to reside in Denmark to abide by the same rules – use up your own resources first, and then the state will cover you to whatever extent you need. Still reasonable, still a good deal.

But confiscating valuables from refugees basically as they arrive??? Hey! You have a laptop in your backpack! We could get 500 bucks for that! Hand it over and we’ll give you a blanket and a sandwich. Nice watch. You want your children in that shelter with you? Hand it over. Ooo, those bracelets look like gold. Give um over. WTF??? HELLO, the refugees have already lost all their resources! Their resources are DOA. These people, especially from Syria, have been running for their LIVES from an insane, brutal pack of savages bent on destroying their world and murdering them (yes, ISIS). They’ve left their houses, jobs, furniture, clothing, books, family pictures and everything else they ever had behind them, in the rubble, in the ashes of the lives they no longer have. And Denmark is going to take from them the last few bits and bobs they’ve managed to drag along in their tattered luggage? Seriously???

Even if the motivation for this foul “law” were financial, which it’s not, Denmark acts as if these people will be living on the dole for decades. As if they will never work again (of course, taking away people’s laptops will put a kink in the job search…) and never make any contribution to Denmark or Europe, as if these people are just mouths to feed and bodies to warehouse. Well, they’re not. They are people, people who, with a little initial protection and help, will work, will pay taxes, will contribute to society – IF they are not forever relegated to Other status, shoved in to a compartment of dirty Syrians or filthy refugees by the nationalistic creeps who don’t even want them in their country to begin with. Which is the real motivation.

I understand that Denmark, and the other countries in Europe taking in refugees, have limited resources, and I am disgusted that the United States, the country with the most resources in the world, is not taking in the thousands and thousands of refugees who need a new country. I understand that there are financial, and physical, limits to what one small country can do for refugees. But financial concerns are not at the forefront of the grab-for-valuables law: it’s nationalistic, racist, xenophobic hate that is driving policy in Denmark, and elsewhere in Europe.

We have, for decades now, wondered how the Holocaust could ever have happened. My god, THIS is how. THIS is the start of how such atrocity occurs. I want to start screaming DUH. The only comfort is that Denmark is being bashed but good over this. But it’s going to be short comfort, because other European countries may follow Denmark’s lead, and the truth is, the migrant crisis is big trouble for Europe. I just hope it’s only big financial trouble because financial trouble can be solved with time, with the integration of refugees into the economy, with innovation, all leading to additional tax revenue and a stronger overall society.

But declaring the necessity of keeping traditions, society, and racial purity safe from foreign influence is not the kind of trouble that can be stopped with innovative solutions. Oh, wait, that’s right, the Nazis were very innovative with their Final Solution. The only problem is, millions upon millions upon millions of people were slaughtered and cooked and dumped into pits. Without their jewelry and other valuables of course. Because taking care of all those Jews was really expensive, and it’s only right that they paid their fair share to the State.

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A weekly dispatch from a reluctant resident in a changing world. . . . Weekly Currents focuses on current events, politics, and the general state of our world, discussing everything from the ridiculous to the preposterous, to the truly awful and miraculously wonderful. Agree? Disagree? Post your opinion below, or ... Continue reading →